Former Huskies on African-Canadian line to be honoured

Members of the 1970 Saint Mary’s hockey team included Bob Dawson (second from left, middle row), Darrell Maxwell (third from right, middle row) and Percy Paris (missing from the photo).

Three Nova Scotia hockey players will be recognized this weekend for breaking new ground on the ice.

Percy Paris, Darrell Maxwell and Bob Dawson made up the first — and probably only — all African-Canadian line to play university hockey in this country.

On Saturday, a Hockey Day in Canada broadcast will feature a segment on their time with some powerhouse Saint Mary’s Huskies teams of the late 1960s and early ’70s.

“It shines a light on our time there and what we had achieved,” Dawson, now 68 and living in Ottawa, said of the recognition.

Originally from Dartmouth, he learned to play the game outdoors on Sullivans Pond, Lake Banook and Maynard Lake, before joining organized hockey around age 12 or 13.

In 1967, the defenceman and about 40 others tried out in front of Bob Boucher, the coach of the Huskies.

Dawson studied sociology and theology and considered entering the priesthood, although he didn’t play hockey like a man of the cloth.

“I was one never to shy away from getting into the corners and roughing it up. I was quite able to handle myself.”

He earned a spot on the Huskies and a place in hockey history as the first black player in Atlantic university hockey. Dawson didn’t think too much about it at the time and focused more on playing well.

“If I had internalized that to the point where I became the victim, I would have not survived,” he said.

Maxwell, a forward from Truro who also lives in Ottawa now, cracked the lineup the following year. The 11th child in a family of 15, he was the first member of his family to attend university.

Like the others, he faced barriers to success, but he also acknowledged help from others.

“I tried to get a job carrying out groceries in the store and they just turned me down flat,” he said, recalling an incident from his early teens. “My friend, who was white, he went and he got the job the next day.

“Once the disappointment passed, it just gave me more determination to prove myself of some worth, you know. That also gave me the motivation to go on to higher education, too.”

Maxwell, a top-notch golfer who once carded a 64 at Truro, said his parents could not afford to send him to school.

“Without the help of a lot of people, who were certainly not black, I probably wouldn’t have been able to succeed.”

Paris, who’d later become well known as an NDP cabinet minister, played the next season, but a serious car crash the following summer ended his university hockey career.

“Sometimes they would call me the Windsor Flash,” he said in reference to his hometown. “I certainly learned how to skate on any patch of ice there was. We played a lot of pond hockey.”

Paris said his dad gave him a strong competitive desire.

“One of the things my dad always said to me, he said, ‘Well, Percy, it’s never good enough to be good. You’ve got to be really good and better than all the other white players on the team.’

“If there was a chase for the puck, I was bound and determined that that was a race that I was going to win.”

The powerful Huskies made it to three straight national finals but lost all three times to the University of Toronto.

It didn’t happen often, but during the year all three black players skated with the Huskies, the coach occasionally sent them out together as a forward unit.

“I think Boucher, he was a very socially conscious individual,” Dawson said. “I guess, maybe in his own way, he wanted to send a message.”

The three players remain friends and are close to a lot of their old teammates, too.

Dawson, who still plays in two recreational leagues, said their white teammates were very welcoming.

“They backed us up. When things looked like they were going to get out of hand, they stepped in. They came to understand us and appreciate us, not only as players, but also as individuals.”

Maxwell has fond memories of the team camaraderie and the positive image the team carved out off the ice as well.

“I was very, very proud of that.”

Like the others, he’s come to appreciate those hockey highlights more and more and appreciates the fact he and the others will be celebrated on national television.

“At the time, there wasn’t much said about it. I certainly consider it an honour.”

Paris plans to watch the broadcast with family and friends at his Windsor Junction home.

“It was unheard of,” he said of a 1970s university team with three black players.

At the time, he said few African-Nova Scotians could attend university and fewer played hockey.

When Sportsnet producers contacted him a month ago seeking input on the segment, he readily agreed.

“It was special to me and, as the years go by and when you reflect on things, you realize how big of an event this was.”

A Sportsnet spokeswoman said the segment will air on their channels and CBC between 1 and 3 p.m. Saturday.